Covid-19 Response Update: January 8-January 15
Combating Covid-19 Series
This is CSIS’s weekly roundup of major updates on the military and the novel coronavirus since Friday, January 8. It explores what the military has done to combat Covid-19 and how the military has in turn been affected by the virus.
New Department of Defense (DoD) cases of Covid-19 rose dramatically over the past week, with the 7-day average increasing by 25 percent to a new record high of 2,456 new cases on January 15. Deaths rose by 8 this past week, reaching 210 as of this Friday, January 15.
Major Updates
- January 13: According to the latest DOD Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, half of all Covid-19 cases among active duty servicemembers are among those in the job fields of engineering, repair, communications, and intelligence.
- January 14: Fort Benning, GA has been operating under increased social distancing restrictions since early January, allowing only essential activities like grocery shopping, in an effort to prevent a post-holiday surge in cases.
- January 14: Senior U.S. military leadership, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and service secretaries have begun receiving Covid-19 vaccines, as part of DoD’s plan to vaccinate the force.
Military Cases of Covid-19
How DoD cases have been trending over time is broken down below, by new cases; total cases; active cases in the DoD; and across the military services.
Methodological note: 1) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday totals are divided across the intervening days and weekends since DoD Covid-19 updates are only released during the work week on a M-W-F basis. 2) Adjustments were made on April 9 and April 15 when new cases where negative. These days were totaled and divided by the previous day to account for the correction. 3) DoD appeared to change the way cases were reported between April 15-Aprilt 16. A resulting spike in cases on April 16 was divided over the two prior days to account for this methodological shift.
This weekly update is made possible by the International Security Program at CSIS.
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)